Hide and Seek
by Crysania
Summary: Rumplestiltskin needs Belle's help for a deal and makes a game of it. (Slightly influenced by scenes in 3x02 "Lost Girl")


"Belle, dear, come here." Belle looks up from her book briefly and sighs. Those words always fill her with just a little bit of dread. They never quite end with things going well for her. _Belle dear, come and try out this latest potion I made. Do you feel tingly? Oh good! It's working. Don't worry, it'll wear off soon…well, sooner or later at least_. She's tried one too many potions, put on one too many pieces of strange clothing, held the parts of animals she hadn't even heard of.

Despite her hesitation, she puts the book down and stands, striding over to Rumplestiltskin's chair with small jaunty steps. "And what do you need of me now? Tea I hope?"

He looks up at her and his face is serious for just a moment, before it breaks out into a huge and rather disconcerting grin. "Of course not, dear. It's only just after breakfast." He gives her a look like he thinks she might be slightly off somehow.

She shakes her head at him, her mouth quirking up slightly. "So what _did_ you want?"

"We're going to play a game!" He says this and it's followed by a strange giggle. That definitely does not bode well for Belle. They play games a fair bit in the Dark Castle. Sometimes when he doesn't want to spin, he challenges her to games of Chess, of word games, teaches her games that come from strange lands she has never been to. It's a fun way to pass their time and she revels in every win. But every time he wants to play one of those games he has it laid out already and he gives her one challenging look, daring her to join him. This is different.

"And what game might that be?" She shouldn't ask. She should simply tell him she has too much dusting to do and flit away. It hasn't worked in the past, but maybe it will work now?

He grins at her and the way it reaches his eyes, so wide and slightly mischievous, she knows she's in for it. "Why hide and seek of course!"

"That's a children's game," she points out sagely.

He scoffs. "Not when it involves magic, dear."

She gives him a long look. "That hardly seems fair." How on earth he thought she could hide from the most powerful sorcerer in the realm was beyond her. But Rumple was nothing if not resourceful.

"It will be entirely fair," he says, placing his hand solemnly over his heart. A moment later, a small flourish, and in his hand he holds a thick black cloak. Belle's head cocks to the side as she studies it.

"What is it?" He has many strange objects in the castle, some benevolent, others not. He has thus far never made her try anything that could harm her, though she tries to forget about the time some potion made her a scant six inches in height and he told her it would wear off "eventually." It did and he laughed the entire time she grew from her tiny height to her regular height. When she was finally back to normal he had looked her up and down. _Aren't you going to grow a little bit more?_ Belle had laughed and resisted pointing out that if she grew a few inches more she'd be taller than him.

"It's something I'm working on for a deal. It needs to be tested, dear." He whips the cloak out and around her and settles it on her shoulders. Brushing his hands down her arms, lightly, he wraps it tightly around her and then grips the hood to put over her head.

She stops him, reaching up to grasp his wrists. She's always surprised at how slender they are. He's small, this Rumplestiltskin. And yet he wields so much power that he seems simply massive. "What is this going to do to me?"

He leans closer to her and his face seems serious. She knows to look beneath the surface though. Rumplestiltskin never can hide his true thoughts from her. And so beneath the serious façade, she can see the merriment dancing in his disconcerting eyes. "Why it's an invisibility cloak of course!" And he quickly flips the hood up over her head.

She feels the magic wrap around her and while she feels no different, the smile that breaks out on Rumplestiltskin's face tells her that she has indeed disappeared. "Now hide, my dear. Someplace good, hmmm? I'll give you to the count of, oh, say, five hundred."

"You better not forget me," Belle warns, her voice sounding strangely disembodied.

"As if I could ever forget you." And the words are strangely solemn. Belle believes he might actually mean them.

She turns to go and gets some ten feet away from him before he speaks again. "You might want to remove those clodhoppers, dearie. I'll be able to hear you no matter where you walk in the castle. Hardly a challenge."

Belle makes an annoyed sound, but removes the shoes, tossing each one directly at the sorcerer. Rumplestiltskin giggles as she silently leaves the room.

* * *

The first place he finds her was far too easy. She cannot think of where to go to hide from him and so goes to the one place she won't mind spending a lot of time. He walks into the library not more than five minutes after she has situated herself on the couch. She thought she was being sneaky, figuring the first place she'd think of would be the last place he'd search. He wouldn't expect her to be this obvious. Apparently he knows her better than she thinks he does.

She tries so very hard to stay still. She's stretched out in a comfortable position on the couch, a book open in front of her. She manages to remain unmoving for several seconds. But then she gets to the end of the page and cannot resist flipping the page. He's turned away from her when she does it and yet the small movement draws his eyes. In seconds his hand is smacked down in the middle of the book and he's yanking the hood away from her head, causing the entire spell to crumble around her.

"Really dear? The library? Didn't you think that would be the first place I'd look?"

She sighs and carefully closed her book. Shrugging, she says, "I thought you'd assume I'd avoid this place."

"I never assume anything."

"Did you find me through magic or just luck then?" She smiles as she watches him flinch slightly.

"I _found_ you through deductive reasoning. You need to be better than this." He folds his arms across his chest for a moment and watches her. She smirks and nods, and so he reaches over her and resituates the cloak, the spell affecting her yet again. "I'll go down and spin for awhile."

He starts to leave the room and Belle remains frozen to the spot, waiting to once again get up and depart, find someplace else to hide for this silly game of his. He pauses in the doorway and looks back at her. "And take these," he says, tossing something at her. "Your feet look cold." And then he's gone. Belle picks up the slippers and smiles. No one will ever convince her that the Dark One is nearly as dark he tries to believe he is.

She puts on the slippers, relieved to see they immediately are surrounded by the magic of the cloak. She's not quite sure where to hide this time. Where would he not think to look for her? Where would he have to find her via magic?

She wanders the castle for some time, looking in empty rooms, considering each one, until she stands in front of the door to his room. Quietly, she tiptoes in and looks around. She's been in the room before. She's had to clean it on occasion after all. But somehow it felt wrong and very naughty to hide in his one private sanctuary. Nonetheless, she decided this was the perfect place.

He had no chairs in the room, just the one lone bed and so despite her misgivings, Belle sits down on it. She hadn't brought a book with her for fear its presence in some random room would give her away. And so she has nothing to do. It doesn't take long before her eyelids are drooping and her body sags in boredom.

She pulls herself backward slightly and curls up on the bed, her head on the pillow. It smells like him, she realizes as she breathes in deeply. Leather and spices and the strange scent of his magic. As she waits for him to find her, for what seemed like forever, she finds herself drifting off to sleep. At least the cloak was good for a bit of a rest.

* * *

Belle comes to gradually. She's not even sure what wakes her. Her dreams were pleasant, though she cannot remember exactly what they were about. Her lips turn up in a slight smile as she opens her eyes. For a second they cannot focus. There is something in front of her face, too close to be able to clearly make out what it is. Her eyes finally focus on one part of it and it takes her a moment to realize that she's staring directly into one of Rumplestiltskin's wild eyes.

She backs up with a squeal as she realizes that he's squatting on the ground, his face mere inches from hers. He stays in place a moment longer and he's grinning like a maniac. "My bedroom? Really?" he says as he stands.

She shrugs. "It took you awhile to find me."

He nods. "It did."

"Did you have to use your magic?" She tilts her chin up slightly at him.

"Indeed I did. It seems the spell is not quite strong enough yet. Once I used it, it was only a matter of a short while before I found where you had hidden yourself." He holds out his hand and she removes the cloak.

He spends some time holding it, running his fingers over it, and finally she sees the purple of his magic reach out and wrap around the cloak. He titters, that strange quiet sound that he makes when he's doing magic and it's going well. "Yes yes," he murmurs. "Much better."

Belle is still sitting on the bed, and so he crawls onto it as well, coming to kneel in front of her. She looks down at where they're situated and feels her cheeks begin to redden. Without thinking much about it, she grabs the cloak back and puts it on, glad to feel the magic hide her blushing from him.

He grins anyway and leaps off the bed. "I best be off, my dear. Best of luck to you!" He leaves the room with a flourish of his hand. Belle breathes a sigh of relief, even though she's pretty sure he saw her blush and even though she's completely sure he knew why it happened.

With his disappearance, she's now left with another choice. Where to go this time? He'll be off spinning for a time before he comes looking for her. So where to go?

Belle decides to do something daring and sneaks into the Great Hall. As she expected, Rumplestiltskin is seated at his spinning wheel. He's already sent the wheel spinning and she watches, almost mesmerized, as he turns mere straw into gold. It's really such a strange ability and she wonders where he came by it and why spinning. Was it something he had always done? Something he had picked up along the way?

He's pulled his sleeves up a little bit, leaving his forearms bare. His arms are slender, the same greenish-gold skin of his face and hands. His wrists are narrow, his fingers long and nimble as he twists the straw into the wheel. They're almost delicate, those hands of his, and she's never quite noticed that before. But she supposes that long delicate fingers aid him in his spinning, make him adept at his craft. He doesn't look at what he's doing. He's staring off into the distance and she recalls his saying he spins to forget. She imagines he has much to forget. The legends about him are numerous and none cast him in a positive light. She's surprised at that. He has a temper, this one does, but he always keeps his word and he deals fairly. She has heard rumors of children bartered to him, babes stolen from their mother's breast and given to him for some nefarious purpose. She has been here for months, living side by side with him, spending her evenings reading in front of the fire while he spins. She has yet to see one child or one babe returning with him from his deals. He often tells her of the ridiculous things people want, the things he asks for. As far as she can tell, she's the only human being he has dealt for. She wonders where the rumors came from, if they are indeed rumors.

She's so involved in her study of him that she's taken aback by his suddenly releasing the wheel and standing. He glances quickly around the room and for a moment, just a small moment, Belle forgets to breathe. And then she remembers she's invisible and almost gives a giggle. Clapping her hand over her mouth she races on silent feet out of the room. She's not sure where to go exactly now that he's on the move, but decides that going outside the castle and hiding on the grounds somewhere seems like the best idea.

She rarely gets to go outside. She's been out more recently as Rumplestiltskin has trusted her to wander the grounds without trying to escape. As times goes on, he's begun to give her more and more freedom. Sometimes she sees him watching her and the look in his eyes is strange, inscrutable. He looks away when he catches her and so she can never quite understand what it means.

She steps into the courtyard, feeling the doors close magically behind her. He's allowed the curtains to remain open but that's still only light. This is the wind in her hair, the smell of the earth, of things beginning to grow again, the feel of the sun on her face. It's so much more than just seeing it from inside and she is forever grateful for the freedom to actually enjoy the nice days instead of watching them go by from the windows of his castle.

For a time she just wanders the grounds. She sees no sign of Rumplestiltskin but she knows he'll find her eventually. For now she can simply walk, feeling like she's part of the air, as insubstantial as the wind. It's strange being invisible but it's even stranger that such a thing no longer fazes her.

She finds herself first walking through the untamed gardens. She's considered trying to tame the wildness many times but always comes to the conclusion that she likes it wild. It somehow suits Rumplestiltskin so much more than the cultivated gardens they had back home. After the gardens are the orchards, with their pear trees. She had been surprised at the lack of apples as they were known to be native to the region, but he had quelled that curiosity with a just a glance. _Apples will never grow here, dearie._ She never questioned it beyond that first time. There was something about the look he gave her that shut down any further inquiry.

She has only been beyond the orchard once. She found the pond just a few days ago. The hill leading down to it is lush and green already, the grass dry and comfortable to sit on. She hasn't brought a book but sometimes that's not as important as simply leaning back and enjoying the sunlight, the clouds that pass by. She had spent many hours wiling away outdoors watching the way the clouds changed shape as they moved, identifying the creatures they formed themselves into: rabbits, horses, even once or twice a fearsome dragon.

Today she settles on the far side of it, where the grass is thickest, and leans back. The clouds aren't terribly thick, but they're interesting enough to watch for a time. Her eyes are starting to drift closed when she hears the sound of soft footsteps coming down the path from the orchard. Rolling over on her stomach she watches as Rumplestiltskin emerges from behind the bushes.

She expects him to make a beeline for her for she's sure she's been found out. But he doesn't even seem to know she's there. Instead, he walks to near the edge of the pond and sits down. He pulls his knees up to his chest and plucks at the grass at his side. He looks distracted and with the way his mouth is turning down at the corners, none too happy either.

She climbs to her feet slowly and drifts towards him. It's strange seeing him lost in thought and not at his wheel. Somehow the wheel seems to soothe him. Out here in the bright light by the pond the lines around his mouth and between his eyes are deeper. His strange eyes are downcast, not enjoying the beauty of the world around him. Belle feels oddly sad watching him so pulled into himself. He looks small there by the pond and for some reason it makes her heart ache.

As she approaches him, she hears him murmur something and she's almost sure it's her name. She's sure she had to have misunderstood him and yet she cannot resist reaching out one hand to twist one lock of his curled hair around her a finger. It's brief but he feels it as he brings up a hand to swat at his hair. Belle bites back a giggle as she backs up quickly. He misses her by scant inches and goes back to his brooding almost immediately.

She sighs as he does so and so steps back toward him, leans over him and ghosts a kiss over the crown of his head, her lips touching the soft hair there just briefly. Her hand comes to rest on his shoulder, and for just one tiny moment, she forgets that this has been a game and that she's invisible. The silence between them is companionable as she looks out over the pond from where she has squatted down behind him.

And then there's a flurry of motion and he's flipped them both around. He grasps her by the shoulders as she lands on her back on the grass. He's above her, pushing her down, but not with any real strength. The grin on his face is slightly maniacal as he feels for the material of the cloak, first almost poking her eye and then tugging her hair a little uncomfortably, before managing to find the edge and shoving it back from her face.

It's strange watching herself suddenly appear in those great big eyes of his. One moment she can see the grass there, the next herself. His eyes immediately move to hers and for a second they're frozen. He's close to her…so close. His eyes just a handful of inches away from hers, his lips almost close enough to touch. And she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't mind if he closed the distance between them. She's almost sure he's considering it. He leans just a fraction of an inch closer to her. Her eyes start to drift shut.

"Gotcha!" he suddenly says, far more loudly than is needed considering how close they are. Her eyes fly open to see him grab the edge of the cloak and pull it out from under her as he leaps up. She follows him, leaping to her feet.

"Did it work?" She's curious, if a bit flustered. She's sure her face is a little red.

"Did what work?" He turns to look at her and she nearly runs into him as he stops.

"The cloak?"

"Oh…" In the pause she can see that he's nearly as flustered as she is and she finds that makes her smile. "Yes…yes it did. I think it will be just what the princess ordered." He turns then and walks away, the cloak draped over one arm and his other hand making strange circles in the air. It's something she's noticed he does on occasion and she wonders if he's even conscious of it. With a sigh and a bit of a smirk, she follows after him. She'll let him believe he's won this little game, even though she chose to reveal herself to him. Sometimes it's easier to listen to him gloat than to watch him pout. This buys her more time before his next grandiose scheme.


End file.
